Friday, November 2, 2007

Global forex trading was founded in 1997 and is today one of the worlds leading providers when it comes to forex real time trading. Global forex trading offer you the chance to deal in real time online currency trading that is making millions of forex brokers rich each day.

Global forex trading serves over 100 countries, using its DealBrook FX2 software and 24 hour market access with one of the highest levels of customer service available in the forex trading industry. With Global forex trading forex brokers have access to pricing for more than 60 currency pair and excellent analytical services from renowned experts. There are up to the minute currency news bulletins and advanced forex charts available. Global forex trading boasts that they provide the only forex trading platform that is suitable for both beginners and professionals.

Forex Trading Advantages

The forex trading market is open 24 hours a day and is today the most liquid market in the world. With forex and the available leverage strategy you can use 100 to 1 leverage which in turn reduces the need for large amounts of capital to be placed in your account. Forex trading is also commission free and trading is available on more than 60 currencies worldwide. Another advantage of forex trading is of course the fact that it is global and there are not restrictions placed on shorting which means that you can enjoy your profit opportunities no matter what the market condition.

Prior to reading this information you may have assumed that forex trading was only available for large investors but thanks to Global forex trading smaller transactions are now available which allows all traders to take part giving everyone the opportunity to profit from forex trading. Dont you think its time you started profiting?

The Forex market can lure the novice Forex trader into trading scenarios that appear very attractive at first glance but turn very quickly into a losing trade.

Many a Forex trader will relate to this experience:

Price has been in a consolidation channel for one or two hours.

You place an entry order to get taken in at the top or bottom of the channel.

Within a few minutes your trade is in and within a few minutes more you are looking at a loss of -10 pips, then -15 pips, and then your stop gets taken out.

Price hardly moved for hours but as soon as you got into a trade you were taken out within minutes for a loss leaving you bewildered and muttering, "What happened?"

In the early stages of gaining trading experience, it is good for the novice Forex trader to go by a checklist every time before entering a trade until certain habits become ingrained.

Just having a procedure in place that has to be executed before pulling the trigger on a trade can prevent the Forex trader from quickly entering a trade just because there are some sudden movements on the screen and the trader is worried about missing an opportunity.

Yes, disciplining oneself to take time and go through a checklist first may mean missing some good opportunities occasionally. On the other hand, it will prevent having losing trades frequently.

For a very cautious approach to trading the newer Forex trader can use this Failsafe Checklist to determine whether the potential trade setup is likely to be high probability or low probability.

FailSafe Checklist

Avoid Going Long If:

There is negative divergence on MACD on the 4 hour, 1 hour, or 15 minute chart.

MACD on the 4 hour or 1 hour chart is pointing down.

Price is well above the Central Pivot Point for the day in a Sell Area. (For a free pivot point calculator go here: www.vitalstop.com/Forex/pivot-point-calculator-download.html)

Price is below the 200 EMA (Exponential Moving Average) on the 4 hour and 1 hour chart but above the 200 EMA on the 15 minute chart. (With this setup on the 3 times frames price is bucking the overall trend and can turn against you at any time.)

Price is above a Fibonacci 50, 62, or 79 retracement (calculated from the last high and low)

Your stop is not below multiple layers of support such as a significant previous high or low, pivot point, or Fibonacci level.

Avoid Going Short If:

There is positive divergence on MACD on the 4 hour, 1 hour, or 15 minute chart.

MACD on the 4 hour or 1 hour chart is pointing up.

Price is well below the Central Pivot Point for the day in a Buy Area.

Price is above the 200 EMA on the 4 hour and 1 hour chart but below the 200 EMA on the 15 minute chart.

Price is below a Fibonacci 50, 62, or 79 retracement (calculated from the last high and low)

Your stop is not above multiple layers of resistance such as a significant previous high or low, pivot point, or Fibonacci level.

The Most Important Lesson Of All

Implementing this Failsafe Checklist strategy may reduce the number of trades the Forex trader participates in. However, here an important lesson is learned - patience! Waiting for a high probability setup can make many demands on a Forex trader's mental resources and emotional strength.

This is probably the most important lesson the new Forex trader will have to learn. Using a Failsafe Checklist like the one above can make the Forex trader slow down, engage in thorough analysis using the technical indicators available, and really start to make progress as a trader.

Why not print off the Failsafe Checklist and keep it beside the computer for consultation before pulling the trigger on any trade?

For additional tips on using the MACD indicator for safe trading click here:

When buying goods online are we buying genuine bargains or being suckered in by a marketers ploy?

Buying online is a big saver over traditional shops as retailers save on overheads of stores and staff and can bring to the consumer brand goods at dramatic savings.

Larger online suppliers with massive buying power can often beat the small firm on price as well as delivery and service making the end buyer well pleased.

Buying brand name products for sure offers massive discounts but buyers need to be sure they deal with established and reputable suppliers - a 75% saving means nothing if the goods never arrive.

Presenting discounts can be offered in several ways and not all are as genuine as they may seem

20% off today only (tomorrow it may be 30% off!!)

50% off (for all orders over 100 USD - in very small print)

Buy 1 get 1 free ( is 50% off but sounds a better deal )

Buy 2 get 1 free (33% discount but FREE is a strong attraction)

Offer closes xxxxx (only to be replaced by another deal, or a later date)

Massive clearout sale ( prices are not reduced much, or are end of line, damaged, returns etc)

Buying by auction has many attractions too where second hand goods are resold on a bidding system when the highest bid wins. Since goods are often being sold by private advertisers quality and delivery must be suspect unless the seller has a high feedback rating which takes time to build.

Many online retailers use a DROP SHIP method of supply, in that they carry no stock themselves but pass on orders to the actual supplier and stock holder who ships the goods direct to the buyer. Any complaint may be hard to pin down and the buck may be passed from seller to supplier - read the terms of business for all suppliers whom you have never dealt with before.

In recent times the ultimate in online savings are to offer goods using a swap or trade system especially for used items. Under this system you swap YOUR surplus item with another of the sites members who wants what you have and they in turn have what you WANT. Until the site has a large stock of offers matching needs with wants may be a problem.

An alternative proving popular is trading for points - you set your item for a number of points and earn a credit for a trade with another of the sites members. Then later you can SPEND your points on "buying" something you want - bonus points can also be earned by referring members to the system or you can "buy" points. All it costs buyers is postage so the buyer gets goods as such for free. "Sellers" need to take the plunge with offering goods as such for free until they build up a credit points balance they can then spend.

In the end saving is no saving at all you are usually SPENDING MONEY in one way or another - even a 85% costs you 15% - so make sure you buy only what you need, rather than just because it was cheap, and on an "unrepeatable deal".

Maurice S Clarke is founder of the wearable goods trading web site http://www.whatweusedtowear.com and lives in Rugby, UK. This article may be freely republished provided it remains intact.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Forex trading systems are hot, you will see them everywhere - all promising you big gains. The vast majority fail to deliver and the reason is curve fitting. If you dont know what it is read on.

Definition

Curve fitting is using past data and bends the rules of the system, to fit the data and make it profitable.

Because the rules of the system have been bent on a snapshot of past data (keep in mind markets never repeat themselves exactly) it is curve fitted and chances are it will lose in real time trading.

This is really like shooting at a barn door with a gun and then drawing a bulls-eye around the shots AFTERWARDS, making them all bulls-eyes!

Hypothetical Illusions

The fact is most forex trading systems dont have a real time track record, they only have one done in hindsight.

Now making money in hindsight is easy, especially if you curve fit it, but of course trading without knowing the closing prices is much more difficult!

Most forex system vendors know there systems dont work and rely on curve fitting and hyped advertising copy to sell their systems then the forex trader wipes himself out and wonders why!

You take a loss and the vendor makes a guaranteed return selling you a junk system they dont even trade themselves!

So How Do You Spot Curve Fitting?

Well when you see a hypothetical track record, be on your guard straight away and look for the following:

1. Lots of indicators and lots of different rules (often with different rules and parameters per currency)

2. Look for a track record with extraordinary growth and absence of drawdown.

A system that exhibits the above will be curve fitted.

Dont Fall For The Hype

Really you shouldnt bother trading forex trading systems which use hypothetical track records but if you want to examine the logic, rules and parameters closely.

Many vendors also keep their rules and parameters secret and dont even tell you what they are - dont even consider these black box systems. most of the time they just make the track records up.

For some reason forex traders take hypothetical records seriously, but there not really worth anything unless you can study them and see their not curve fitted and believe me most of them are!

Play Safe

Vendors who have to use hyped advertising copy and a hypothetical track record generally dont have a product worth considering ONLY deal with vendors of forex trading systems who can back their claims up with a real audited track record over 2 years or more.

After all If they dont have the guts to trade their own system and prove it's worth why should you?

Would you take driving lessons from someone who couldn't prove they could drive? Exactly.

Next time you think of buying a forex trading system, check it out and the chances are its curve fitted and this makes you odds on to lose if you use it.

For those stock investors who may not know this, the Standard Poor or popularly known as (S&P), is a leading provider of independent investment research, market ratings as well as stock market indicators.

It is available through S&Ps Data Services for a fee. S&P is widely accepted as the world leader in independent investment research. The information focuses on cash and stock distributions and consequences these will have on taxes. Mergers and acquisitions affecting dividend payments, redemptions, outcomes of stockholder meetings are also detailed.

Dividend Record focuses on companies listed on American and major Canadian exchanges, as well as selected foreign stock issues.

The information is accessible through the Internet direct from S&P. Information from Dividend Record can be used to research individual companies, market sectors, market indices, or the market as a whole. Emerging trends can be studied from the data. Even though the information isnt free, reports about the latest Dividend Record are widely reported every time the quarterly versions are published.

Mergent also publishes its version called, appropriately, Mergents Dividend Record.

Another use of the term dividend record has to do the date a company actually makes announced dividend payments. This record date is important because shareholders on record on that date will be paid. For example, a company would announce that it will pay a dividend on April 1 to shareholders on record as of March 15.

In this article we are going to look at one essential fact you need to succeed when trading currencies. If you understand it, you can will be taking your first step to learning forex trading correctly and achieving forex trading success the fact you must understand is:

The ratio of winners to losers hasnt changed in 50 years - 95% lose and 5% win So what you may say?

Well think about it:

The ratio of winners to losers has stayed the same and this is despite the increased power of computers in terms of data analysis and forex analysis programs, data analysis, better and more timely news sources and a huge amount of experts wanting to help you.

Doesnt this fact strike you as odd?

All these advantages! Yet the bulk of traders still find their currency trading strategies lose.

Well there is a simple reason why and its an essential part of your forex education:

Forex trading is relatively simple and is as much mindset, as it is a good currency trading system, so learn the points below and you will be able learn forex trading correctly and succeed:

1. Simple systems work best

There is a temptation to devise complicated forex trading systems - after all computers can help you do it easily, but the fact is this will help you lose.

A complicated system has more elements to break a simple system is best as it is more robust.

2. News is the enemy

Today there is a lot of news and its presented well - all those convincing arguments!

All great to hear or read but it will simply help you lose - news is discounted in seconds so it wont help you as the market looks to the future.

3. Volatility Has Increased

The volatility of currency trading has increased with faster communications.

This means you have sharper counter trend moves to deal with and the big challenge today is dealing with it this has actually made currency trading success harder!

4. The myth of the expert

In todays society we consult experts on everything, yet currency trading is one area an expert wont help you.

The fact is success comes from within no one is going to give it you.

Many traders buy worthless e-books for hundred dollars or so and believe the hype and these guys can help dream on.

They present great marketing copy and normally claim great success with no substantiation whatsoever and never have a real track record to back up their claims, just a worthless simulated profit in hindsight.

If you want to win, ignore them and find your own way.

Trading the truth

The market price is always right, only you can be wrong and it moves as and when it wants to.

To win you have to create a set of rules to lead you to currency trading success, have confidence in them and the discipline to execute your trading signals.

Most people cant take responsibility for their actions, lose and blame the markets or others for their losses but in reality its their fault.

Most people simply dont have the mindset to win and thats as true today as 50 years ago.

You just need to learn forex trading the right way and this article has given you something to think about and a valuable bit of forex education.

You may have seen something on some stock sites that looks like what a football coach would have on his chalkboard; a mix of X's and O's. Maybe it's hugs and kisses for Valentine's Day. Or, perhaps, it's a new form of multi-level tic-tac-toe. The correct answer is "none of the above". It's a form of tracking stocks called a Point and Figure Chart.

Point & Figure (P and F) charts are made up of columns of X's and O's that display filtered price movements over time. Some of the benefits of using P&F charts instead of the more traditional bar or candlestick charts are:

Getting rid of the tiny, insignificant price variations that often make bar charts appear 'cluttered'

Removing the tricky distortions of time from the analysis process, to give a clearer picture of what's really going on with the stock

Make locating support/resistance levels much easier,and make trend line recognition a 'cake-walk'

Enable the user to concentrate on the important long-term price developments

The Point & Figure method of chart analysis has been utilized for many years. Before the wide-spread, almost universal use of computers, P & F charts were invaluable to stock trackers. In just a few minutes, using only graph paper, a pen or pencil, and the stock quotes from the newspaper, P&F chartists were able to update and analyze 25, 50, even 100 charts each day! In the late 1980's, computers came into universal use by stock trackers. Using computers made it much easier to create bar charts. As a result, P&F charts began to disappear. Recently, however, P & F charting is undergoing a "Renaissance", and is once again growing in popularity, as investors look for simpler and better ways to select stocks. Even in the world of the stock market, "less is more".

For more information, please visit: http://www.alphatrader.com

Dottye is a Realtor, an Internet Marketer, and a published Author of three books, and several short stories and songs. For more information, please visit: http://www.alphatrader.com

Friday, October 12, 2007

Making predictions about anything is a tricky business. It's often fraught with problems and compounded by two factors: too many variables and too many people.

Making predictions in the world of technology is about as rough as it gets. You see a trend, a fad, or a new craze, jump on it, extrapolate, and then go and get it all totally wrong.

As an example, at the turn of the 20th century, it was predicted that passenger air balloon travel pioneered by the likes of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin would be commoditized and become the pre-eminent means of mass transit. In fact, it would be so popular, by the 1980s, people would have their own personal air balloon as their primary method of conveyance.

Obviously, this gaze into the future didn't take into account the airplane, which put an end to that pearl of foresight.

The main problem with looking forward is that people do it in such painfully straight lines, as the previous example demonstrates. The telephone is another useful example; who could have predicted mobile phones at the time Alexander Graham Bell was fussing around with the technological equivalent of paper cups and wet string?

No one could have. Furthermore, how could anyone have predicted that these mobile telephones would one day have cameras built in? Or that you could send written messages on them? You only have to go back 10 years, and such ideas would be derided as foolish drivel.

The future is a curly thing, and in the wonderful world of information technology, the driving force behind much of the confusion is convergence.

Now there's a buzzword if I ever heard one. And this becomes the next big problem with predicting future trends in technology: let's get two really cool gizmos and merge them; people will love it!

Err, no! What drives desire is anyone's guess. What drives need is utility: two very different parts of the brain are being exercised, here, one more than the other!

If something doesn't fulfill a practical purpose, then it's neither use nor ornament.

This future-predicting thing is even harder these days, but in a way, even the most outlandish theory could have its day. Things are changing so quickly that new technologies are emerging literally overnight. And given that people's needs are also changing, evolving, and emerging, who knows?

Going back even further, desire, need call it what you will has a common source. The very engine of change is people, society, lifestyle, and a requirement to manage, re-route and/or if need be, delegate all of this data and information.

The Apple Newton was way ahead of its time. A bunch of clever guys 'n' gals sat in a room and made a remarkable prediction about how people would "consume" data and information, and they were right on the money the only problem being that they were over 10 years early!

Now, people are on the move. People work on the move, hold down long-distance relationships, work with colleagues across time zones, and manage bank accounts in a cafe while drinking a cup of chai.

The only certainty is the same one that has been pontificated upon since time immemorial: things change. Things often come together in intriguing, mysterious, and eminently useful ways.

So here's my prediction: things will never be small enough, big enough, fast enough, cool enough, or cheap enough! Am I wrong?

The sheer beauty and versatility of exotic woods adds enormous value to the wood-crafting industry. Exotic woods come from all corners of the globe and each one has its own unique and prized quality.

African Blackwood

The African Blackwood tree has a lustrous wood that comes in a range of dense red to black shades. This wood is very versatile and can be used for making Egyptian furniture as well as a range of woodwind instruments including clarinets.

East Indian Rosewood

The wonderfully exotic East Indian Rosewood has a magnificent striped appearance and contains a few resin properties. This wood is easy to work with and is popularly used for crafts that involve a lot of wood turning.

Lacewood

Getting its name from its distinctive lace-like appearance, Lacewood is softer than many of the exotic woods and is widely used in veneers and in projects that require turning.

African Mahogany

There are several splendid African Mahogany species available including the Khaya Mahogany, which could range in color from light pink to reddish brown. Its rich tonal qualities make it great for use in making guitars.

Leopardwood

A rare, exotic Brazilian hardwood, the grain pattern of the Leopardwood is distinctive and resembles a leopards skin. This wood is popularly used for smaller sized decorative items including jewelry boxes.

Ebony

Ebony is easy to recognize by its distinctive black color. This dense wood is a mainstay in several musical instruments, exquisite chess sets, pistol grips and ornamental art.

Desert Ironwood

One of the densest of all exotic woods, Desert Ironwood is grown exclusively in the Sonoran desert area of the US and Mexico. This wood is not very easy to work with but its beautiful sheen when finished is much sought after in the construction of knife handles, jewelry and art pieces.

Bocote

Though the Bocote wood is very hard and heavy, it is quite easily worked on. This exotic wood is highly resistant to decay and marring and is often used in custom knife handles, smoking pipes, pool cues as well as hi-end cabinetry and flooring.

There are many important things you need to know to trade and invest successfully in the stock market or any other market. 12 of the most important things that I can share with you based on many years of trading experience are enumerated below.

1. Buy low-sell high. As simple as this concept appears to be, the vast majority of investors do the exact opposite. Your ability to consistently buy low and sell high, will determine the success, or failure, of your investments. Your rate of return is determined 100% by when you enter the stock market.

2. The stock market is always right and price is the only reality in trading. If you want to make money in any market, you need to mirror what the market is doing. If the market is going down and you are long, the market is right and you are wrong. If the stock market is going up and you are short, the market is right and you are wrong.

Other things being equal, the longer you stay right with the stock market, the more money you will make. The longer you stay wrong with the stock market, the more money you will lose.

3. Every market or stock that goes up will go down and most markets or stocks that have gone down, will go up. The more extreme the move up or down, the more extreme the movement in the opposite direction once the trend changes. This is also known as "the trend always changes rule."

4. If you are looking for "reasons" that stocks or markets make large directional moves, you will probably never know for certain. Since we are dealing with perception of markets-not necessarily reality, you are wasting your time looking for the many reasons markets move.

A huge mistake most investors make is assuming that stock markets are rational or that they are capable of ascertaining why markets do anything. To make a profit trading, it is only necessary to know that markets are moving - not why they are moving. Stock market winners only care about direction and duration, while market losers are obsessed with the whys.

5. Stock markets generally move in advance of news or supportive fundamentals - sometimes months in advance. If you wait to invest until it is totally clear to you why a stock or a market is moving, you have to assume that others have done the same thing and you may be too late.

You need to get positioned before the largest directional trend move takes place. The market reaction to good or bad news in a bull market will be positive more often than not. The market reaction to good or bad news in a bear market will be negative more often than not.

6. The trend is your friend. Since the trend is the basis of all profit, we need long term trends to make sizeable money. The key is to know when to get aboard a trend and stick with it for a long period of time to maximize profits. Contrary to the short term perspective of most investors today, all the big money is made by catching large market moves - not by day trading or short term stock investing.

7. You must let your profits run and cut your losses quickly if you are to have any chance of being successful. Trading discipline is not a sufficient condition to make money in the markets, but it is a necessary condition. If you do not practice highly disciplined trading, you will not make money over the long term. This is a stock trading system in itself.

8. The Efficient Market Hypothesis is fallacious and is actually a derivative of the perfect competition model of capitalism. The Efficient Market Hypothesis at root shares many of the same false premises as the perfect competition paradigm as described by a well known economist.

The perfect competition model is not based on anything that exists on this earth. Consistently profitable professional traders simply have better information - and they act on it. Most non-professionals trade strictly on emotion, and lose much more money than they earn.

The combination of superior information for some investors and the usual panic as losses mount caused by buying high and selling low for others, creates inefficient markets.

9. Traditional technical and fundamental analysis alone may not enable you to consistently make money in the markets. Successful market timing is possible but not with the tools of analysis that most people employ.

If you eliminate optimization, data mining, subjectivism, and other such statistical tricks and data manipulation, most trading ideas are losers.

Note those that have traded successfully over very long periods of time are very few in number. Keep in mind that Wall Street and other financial firms make money by selling you something - not instilling wisdom in you. You should make your own trading decisions based on a rational analysis of all the facts.

11. The worst thing an investor can do is take a large loss on their position or portfolio. Market timing can help avert this much too common experience.

You can avoid making that huge mistake by avoiding buying things when they are high. It should be obvious that you should only buy when stocks are low and only sell when stocks are high.

Since your starting point is critical in determining your total return, if you buy low, your long term investment results are irrefutably better than someone that bought high.

12. The most successful investing methods should take most individuals no more than four or five hours per week and, for the majority of us, only one or two hours per week with little to no stress involved.

Anyone who is serious about trading needs to have a Forex Trading System that is tailored to them, but there is no reason to start constructing your Forex trading system from scratch.

Why try and reinvent the wheel when you can benefit from other traders years of experience and borrow your trading systems ideas and concepts?

Its easy to do, and there are some pretty good Forex trading systems out there for you to work with. Some of them are free and some are very expensive, but the price tags dont always reflect the actual value of the Forex trading systems. But, many of these systems wont work for you, and I am not talking about out-right dishonesty here, which can be a big problem when trading. What I am talking about is your ability to effectively trade with the system that you may be considering using or buying.

You need to use a system that matches your life style and personality. If you have a day job (not trading), a Forex Trading System that requires you to stare at a screen all day wouldnt be appropriate. You would be distracted at work and miss the opportunities to make money, or even worse, you will not close a trade effectively and could lose money.

Some Forex trading systems have a potential to lose 20, 30 or 40% of your money before they are profitable. Can you handle a system that can drop your trading capital to half before making money? Or, are you prepared to have a string of 8 to 10 loses in a row before you have a winning trade? Some of the best traders in the world lose money on more than 50% of their trades. These are all important points to consider when you are creating your Forex Trading System. Choose aspects of the different systems that are out there that fit your trading style best, and then build your Forex trading system.

An excellent trading method, which was made famous by Richard Dennis and William Eckhardt and is sometimes referred to as Turtle Trading, is one of the best Forex trading systems that I know of. They get returns in excess of 20 to 100% per year using this system. But, could most traders trade their system? Not a chance! Dennis and Eckhardt also loose on over 60% of their trades.

Once you know what sort of Forex Trading System will work best for you, look at the components that make it work. Face it; if you are a new, or even a fairly serious, trader how likely are you to come up with a totally new concept? There are some very smart and wealthy traders out there. Why not use their ideas. Consider Dennis and Eckhardts turtle trading, their system is based on a breakout method. I know most traders could not trade using their exact method, but they could take parts of it, such as the breakouts, to confirm a trend.

You can also use other Forex trading systems to give you an outline of what parts a system has to have for it to make money. All great Forex trading systems have these three basics:

1. Entry Rules, 2. Money Management Rules and 3. Exit Rules.

Study and learn from the Forex trading systems out there, borrow their concepts, and steal their ideas. It will put you on the track to the system that will make you a successful trader.

-=-=-==-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- David Jenyns is recognized as the leading expert when it comes to designing profitable stock trading systems.

Discover the "secret formula" of trading that anyone can useto consistently generate BIG profits from the market by downloading your FREE copy of David's new UltimateStock Trading Systems course.

Profit-taking depressed local market. But Dow should stage rebound on Tuesday night.

Technically speaking:

1. As at Tuesdays close at 1366.99 the KLCI was lower by 10.14 points or 0.74%. Losers led gainers 648 to 286.

2. The lower close is a dampener especially after a breakout into new highs last Friday.

3. But as chartists one should expect the unexpected. In other words, if the KLCI should fall further to and violate its lower Bollinger band, one should consider exiting the market at 1348 or lower.

4. But until then, it is possible for the KLCI to stage a rebound.

5. Until the present circumstance, we would be cautious and not buy further.

6. We would wait-and-see and wait for a rebound before adding more positions.

7. Stocks-to-watch for today will, understandably be low. They are: LMCEMT and YTLCMT.

8. We were right about TRANMILE going down to hit the floor. We hope you have exited this stock as based on technical analysis it can make lower lows.

9. We observed that the local stock market moves in tandem with the strength of the ringgit. For the market to rally we would want to see a stronger ringgit. Right now the ringgit is weak.

CONCLUSION: Although it is too early to call a trend reversal, the local market has taken a beating from sellers as funds sell out for fear of further weakness from the U.S. markets. But the technical of the Dow do not seem to suggest that a market plunge is near. Instead we are seeing a Dow rebound. If so, we expect the KLCI to rebound in tandem.

A stop in trading is one of the most important things you will ever use, not only does it protect your account if a trade goes against you it also defines the risk you are willing to take on a given trade.

Many traders will not give the placement of a stop any thought at all, they see it merely as a last resort, "if all else fails my stop will be hit" attitude. Stop hunting is what you will fall victim to time and time again if you do not think about where you are placing your stops. Try not to place them too tight, think outside the box and place them where you are sure if price goes the trade will no longer be valid at all. False breakouts are one of the most common trades that take out stops, in this case I always try to trade the retrace of the breakout as appose to the first breakout which reduces you stop dramatically and you can be sure that if price falls back inside the support/resistance line that was broken the trade is no longer valid.

To give you an idea of the stop size I use, I trade 3 main systems which use's 5 minute, 4hour and daily charts stops on the 5 min charts are for scalping so they are very small at 5 pips + spread. Stops on the 4 hour charts are generally around 50 pips and on the daily charts stops are around 100 pips. My stops give me room to make a mistake which is very important in the forex market, if I misjudge my entry by 20 pips I am fine because my stop is still way back behind the closest support/resistance.

It is always a good idea to try to keep your stops a good distance away from price and give the trade breathing room this ensures that the swings will not take you out, there is nothing more irritating than being taken out of a position only to have it move hundreds of pips into your favour afterwards.

If you are ever unsure where you stop should be use this little trick that has helped me in the past, choose a place you would normally put your stop. Now move it further back to the next best support/resistance, you see the first place you choose is most likely where 90% of traders have placed there stops, large institutions will be targeting these areas to trigger positions in the market. Stops are not just a last resort for your trade, they are the trade. You should be thinking about the placement of your stop as much as where you take profit.

Do You Want To Make Consistent Money In Forex? Dean Saunders has created the *Ultimate* FREE forex trading system that has helped 100's of Forex Traders become profitable. Click Here and grab your FREE copy of Dean's amazing trading system!

If you are looking to get started trading the Forex, you will find that there are numerous software programs available (both web based and desktop based) for you to use in your trading. In fact, most brokers offer clients a software package for free or as part of their trading account. Usually the software that comes with your trading account is a very basic "bare bones" model. Sometimes, more features are available for a price. The software packages your broker provides can be an important consideration in choosing a broker. You may want to download and try some different packages using a demo account. This will give you a better idea of which software package you find most suitable to your unique style of trading.

Forex trading software comes in two basic flavors - desktop software, and web based software. Which one you choose to work with depends on your preference and other more technical factors. Obviously, the Forex market is very dynamic and you need to have the most reliable up to date connection to the data as possible. Your internet connection speed is a factor here, and if you can afford it, you really should be connecting via broadband.

Your internet connection speed is just one of the factors you should consider when selecting forex trading software. The biggest consideration should be one of security.

Generally speaking, web based forex software is more secure than a desktop based software package. Why is that? Well, with a desktop software, your information and data is stored on your hard drive thus making it vulnerable to numerous security issues. If your computer became infected by a virus, your personal data and the integrity of your trading system can become compromised. Likewise, in the event of hard drive failure, your important data can be lost. Then there is the threat of prying eyes accessing your trading systems.

Luckily, if you choose to go with a desktop based software for your forex trading, you can do some things to limit the risks. For starters, a dedicated computer just for trading the forex would be a wise investment. Due to the popularity of forex trading, there are computers made specifically with a forex traders needs in mind. Even if you cant afford a dedicated machine, you should still apply the following tips to your trading computer:

If you choose to go with a web based trading software, allot of the security and maintenance issues are handled by the provider. Online based forex systems are hosted on secure servers, the same type of servers credit card processing is handled on. This gives you a great deal of protection, as your data is encrypted. Also, backups and mirrors of your account data are made by your software provider to protect you from data loss.

Aside from the security considerations, you may find that an online based trading software is simply more convenient. There is no software to download as the software runs in your regular web browser. This means that you always will have access to the latest versions and features. Also, if you travel you will certainly appreciate the ability to log in and trade from any computer with an internet connection.

As you can see, there are many options in forex trading software. You ultimately should choose to work with the software that you personally find easiest and most intuitive to use.

Market capitalization, or market cap, refers to the value of a company and is a measure of company size. Market capitalization is the value you get when you multiply all the outstanding shares of a stock by the price of a single share. For example, if a company has 10 million shares outstanding and its share price is $5, the market cap is $50 million. The market cap is generally listed on stock quotes you find on the internet.

Companies are grouped into market cap categories which are references to how large a company is measured by its market value. Here are the five basic market cap categories:

2) Small cap ($250 million to $1 billion): Stocks with higher growth potential, but with higher risk. Typically includes new or young companies.

3) Mid cap ($1 billion to $5 billion): Some of the safety of large caps with some of the growth potential of small caps. These companies have operated in the marketplace longer than smaller companies and their stocks generally have less price volatility.

4) Large cap ($5 billion to $250 billion): Stocks for the conservative investor who wants steady appreciation with greater safety. These stocks are referred to as blue chips and include companies such as IBM.

5) Mega cap (over $250 billion): The largest companies that are typically leaders in their industry. Examples include Wal-Mart and Exxon.

There isn't universal agreement on the exact category cutoffs. Many investors prefer the three cap system of small, mid, and large, while others prefer to break it into more than the five categories listed above.

Market cap classification allows you to gauge the growth versus risk potential of a stock. Large caps experience slower growth with lower risk while small caps provide higher growth potential, but with higher risk. Market capitalization is important to consider, but dont invest just because of it. You can determine the value of a company in many ways, and market cap is just one measure of value.

You may freely reprint this article provided the following author's biography (including the live URL link) remains intact:

About The Author

Craig Tesch is the founder of X-investing, a free resource guide to investing and personal finance at http://www.xinvesting.com.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Truly superior companies exist, are sometimes undervalued by markets, and can be identified by mostly financial research. Earnings and dividends, stock prices and markets can be adequately forecasted. All these can be identified by analysis of their financial statements. Buy where forecasted price is greater than current price by a satisfactory margin.

2. Technical Analysis

Patterns in past price behavior of a security in question and the overall market can be used to direct profitable trading strategies. Some technical analysts also refer to a company's fundamentals in combination with its technical indicators.

3. Efficient Market Theory

No possible market-beating investment strategy exists. All information relevant to a stock's long-term price performance, including information not publicly available, is already present in the stock price for any given period of observation.

And here are two more "truly real" ways to approach investing:

1. The Proud Way and

2. The Humble Way.

The proud way is for those who believe that they're smarter than everyone else and can use their insights and abilities to make superior investment choices.

The humble way is for those who believe that they don't know everything. This humble approach leads them to study what has worked over the long term and then use it.

The path to achieving investment success is in studying long-term results and finding a strategy or group of strategies that make sense. This strategy is the humble way ... And it does work!

Ioannis - Evangelos C. Haramis was born in Greece in 1951 and he studied in Greece, USA and in Belgium. He has been active in the stock markets since 1972. Since 2002 he is New Business Development Managing Director at an Investment Bank.

I saw an interesting article the other day that was written by Ken Materson It basically described how a person or a stay at home mom could capitalize on the E-currency business. This was a well written article and it basically opened my eyes and made me realize just how good the returns are on the system that Im currently involved in. Here is a brief description of the E market and how it works.

So what is e-currency exchanging all about? Due to global commerce consumers find themselves conducting business with companies and people from different parts of the world. This has resulted in a heavy reliance on third party currency exchange services such as pay pall, e-gold, e-bullion, and plenty of others to complete cross-continental transactions more efficiently.

This influx of e-currencies has created a window of profitable opportunity for those in this business. With so many different forms of e-currencies available there is now a need to exchange between them. In this marketplace you will be operating as a lender of e-currencies that you have purchased.

You will do this by investing in digots, a term used in this business, which represents a digital value determined by a region of activity within the DXInOne system. When you purchase a digot, it simply means that you are investing in the activity of some region of the world.

The higher the activity in that region is, the higher the digot will increase in value. With a small investment in the system you will be making .2% - 2% on each exchange that you are involved in. The profit percents are a range because they will depend on how well you're digot picks perform in each trading session.

The best part about this business is that you can not loose money; since your profit comes from the fluctuation of your digot values the only thing that changes is how much you make. So, on some highly profitable days you will be operating at the full 2% earning huge returns while on slower days your return rate will be less. People with large investments have netted profits over $5,000 per month.

This is just a brief explanation of what this home business is all about and it really does entail more than what has been stated. Since this business is relatively new there is not yet that much information about it readily available.

There are however several e-currency exchange experts out there who offer training on how to be very successful in this home business opportunity. But I suggest looking at a program that Im involved in first. It consistently brings me daily earnings of $1K to $3K daily. You would have to have Hundreds of Thousands on Hand to get the returns that I do on one simple program. This simple system took off like wild fire and It never slows down. See for yourself. It literally allows you to quit your Job in 6 months or less.

www.jgmarketing.info

John Gibbs is an online Mentor and Marketer who specializes in Traffic Generation and Mentoring people to Success. He consistently earns $1K to $3K a day. http://www.jgmarketing.info

Stock option trading offers the skilled trader more potential for making a fortune option trading than almost any other form of online trading in todays market. The degree of controlled risk along with superior leverage allows a knowledgeable option trader the chance to make huge profits but an aspiring option trader must have a solid foundation of education about what makes up a sound option trading method in order to have a long term success at option trading. There are five essential keys that any option trader must understand when developing a winning stock option system.

First, you must understand the degree which time affects the premium of the option you are considering trading. There are two parts you must consider when factoring time into the stock option trading decisions. The first thing that you must take into account is the intrinsic time left on an option. Since options have a limited time period of anywhere from 30 days to several year depending on the particular option that you bought you must be sure that you purchase the correct option containing enough time on it to insure that time decay doesnt erode your investment away before your position has enough time to be profitable.

The second skill of trading options profitably is factoring time into your trading system in relation to trading a particular stock option and knowing the statistics of your option trading methodology or option trading setup by knowing the average holding period of a trade signal. If your average holding time for an option trade is seven days then you dont want to buy an option with three months of time premium left on it because you would be paying more for the extra time with the options purchase price. Nor would you buy an option with less that 30 days till expiration as time decay would erode the value of option so quickly that even if the options underlying stock movement moved favorably to you the time decay would prevent you from realizing a gain in the option itself.

The third thing to profitable stock option trading is understanding the relation of volatility between the market, the underlying stock that underlies the stock option, and the effect is has on the value of the option itself. When the general stock market as an index goes thru periods of volatility or low trading ranges the stocks that make up the market tend to follow overall trend and also begin to experience periods of low overall volatility which in turn can cause derivative like stock options to become cheap or low premiums. But if the markets volatility rises it is likely that individual stocks will follow the trend causing stock option premiums to increase in value given that the market moves in the traders favor. The next key in how to trade stock options successfully is having a stock option trading method that takes these key factors into consideration while giving clear entry signals, clear exit signals, a defined system of trade management, and a profit factor greater than your average loss over a series of trades. Knowing the ins and outs of various trade setups is useless if you dont have a trading methodology that guides you in every step of the trade process. A solid trading method holds you by the hand and defines each step while leading you to being a consistent winner in the markets and a profitable trader when all is said and done.

Finally, the fifth and final key to successfully trading stock options is yourself, particularly your trading psychology. Human beings and there mental makeup are extremely complex so it is extremely important that stock option traders not only have a sound stock option trading methodology but the discipline to follow their trading methods. You can give two people the same exact winning trading system but it is very common for them to have different results. Invariably, the one that has the ability to remain as detached from his losing trades as well as his winning trades while maintaining the discipline to follow the systems rules no matter the trading result will emerge the greatest winner in the end.

Using these five keys as a basis to develop your stock option trading methodology can help you avoid the mistakes and pitfalls of many beginning option traders. By understanding time decay, factoring an options time into your trading method, how volatility impacts a stock options value, what defines a reliable stock option trading methodology, and your own trading psychology you now have a foundation to develop into a winning stock option trader.

Everyone is looking for that magic bullet that will allow them to retire rich or at least comfortable. They want to be able to do what the TV ads show - vacationing in Fiji, fly fishing in Vermont, etc, etc. It seems so easy on TV.

A pretty financial analyst from some big company shows the prospect how it is done. The next part of the trick is getting it done and that aint easy. It usually means a change because the potential retiree must take part of the cash now being spent on present life style and put it away not to be spent until retirement becomes a reality. If the couple shown in the ad do it they will be glad they did. Sacrificing some current pleasantries will have been worth it. The $2,000, $3,000, $5,000 trip today could be worth twice that amount or more at age 65 if the worker now is lucky enough to have a good broker or planner one who will not allow loss of principal during subsequent bear markets.

Annuities sound good, but 99% are rip offs. If an annuity is appealing insist on a sample policy. Take it to an attorney and pay $250 or so to have it translated into English. The most important paragraph is the cancellation clause. Get a letter from him stating the major features. When the policy is delivered compare it line for line with the sample to be sure they are the same. Accept no substitutions or changes. The persons saving will want to have a financial planner who has an excellent exit strategy. There are very few of them. Ask to see their model portfolio results for the years 2000 to 2003.

If they lost 30, 40% or more find another advisor. Advisors like to show how they did in relation to the S&P500 Index which lost 40%. They show they did better. Better still means they would have lost the clients money. This is the road to disaster as there will be another serious bear market and customers money will go down the rat hole again. A smart investor will continue due diligence until such an advisor is found. Rarely will it be a stock broker. Occasionally a financial planner can be found. Search on the Internet. Make them prove (and be sure it can be verified) the results. Dont accept 10-year projections.

These are nonsense. Even during the bad 3 years there should be profits. When people come to the end of the road and may no longer be able to work for an income the money put away will be their blessing. The great Social Security farce may have blown up by then. People must take personal responsibility for their retirement. Few have done so and think the government will take care of them. Think again or enjoy those canned cat food sandwiches. Act now. Unless you are the Lone Ranger there will be no magic bullet.

Al Thomas' best selling book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter and receive his market letter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know. Copyright 2007 All rights reserved

There are diverse systems and methods for Forex trading that will teach you pretty successful approaches to a profitable trading career. But many of them will ask you for a good chunk of your working day. And that may become a problem if you still have a full time job and besides you still have a family you must consider and take care of.

If this is your case then you should look for a forex trading system that will improve your trading with new strategies that will allow you to keep your fulltime job and mainly, keep your family happy.

In order to save time used on chart analysis and indicators reading you must use a trading strategy like the ones used in what is known as swing trading. This is a forex trading approach that relies on identifying winning trades on short time intervals (15 min, 30 min, 1 hrs charts). As you can see from the trading intervals this kind of system will naturally free you from spending the whole day watching how the markets evolve with time. You just need short bursts of profits from time localized trades.

With the correct swing trading system you will have good, solid and consistent profits resulting from clear entry orders, calculated exits and this without spending too much time watching the markets. A forex trading method with a high winning percentage will be rewarding psychologically, will keep your morale high (very important in this hard trading world) and will be enjoyable to trade. After all, a string of profits will build the confidence of anyone.

One of the critical pieces of forex education for any Forex trader is to understand the concept of standard deviation of price and how to use volatility to their advantage.

If you understand the concept you can easily apply it with Bollinger bands which are an essential tool for all forex traders.

Lets look at why Bollinger Bands are so useful and profitable, when incorporated in your Forex Strategy.

If you dont know what standard deviation is simply check our article on the concept right, lets take a look at Bollinger bands.

Bollinger Bands Defined

Bollinger bands are simply volatility bands drawn either side of a moving average.

You calculate Bollinger bands using the standard deviation of price over the same period as moving averages the mean price, then the volatility bands are plotted above and below the moving average.

Moving averages are used to identify the underlying trend of currencies and Bollinger bands take this one step further by:

Combining the moving average of the currency with the volatility of the individual market (or the standard deviation) this then creates a trading envelope with a middle mean price (moving average and 2 x bands (expanding or contracting) either side that reflect volatility or standard deviation.

As prices move away from the longer-term average, the standard deviation rises - and thus the bands will fluctuate in varying amounts, away from the average.

Why they work

In any market, the value of a currency traded tends to rise slowly over the longer term.

Prices can and do spike quickly in the short term, but will normally return to the longer term moving average - which represents fair value.

The standard deviation of the outer bands (how far they are from the mean) shows how far prices are from longer-term value.

Most price spikes are caused by trader psychology with greed and fear to the fore and this can be graphically seen with Bollinger bands.

So how should you use Bollinger bands?

There are 3 main ways to use them.

1. Spotting price spikes

When the bands are a long way from the mean you can use Bollinger bands as profit taking signal on existing trades or use them to spot contrary trades.

2. Enter exisiting trends

If you have a good trend in the forex markets then you can use dips to the middle band to buy at fair value.

3. Entering new trends

When prices are trading in tight range and start to breakout with a change in volatility a great new trend could be emerging.

Bollinger bands can certainly give you a new dimension to your forex trading strategy and any currency trading system can benefit from the extra insight that they can give you.

A word of warning

Like all technical indicators you should not use Bollinger bands in isolation to enter trades, however combined with timing indicators such as, the stochastic or RSI, then you have a powerful combination for greater FX profits.

With regard to forex education, knowing what standard deviation is and how to apply the concept through Bollinger Bands, will give you a huge trading edge, so make sure you use them.

A gentleman from South Carolina has sent an e-mail last week. He has been reading my Articles on Real Estate Economics, and wants to know how I can possibly take the position that there is no real estate bubble bursting out there. This gentleman believes not only that there is a burst in full progress but that, in fact, it looks more and more like a market crash at least in the area where he is located. He corroborates the e-mail with an impressive set of figures taken from local sources.

While I am grateful to this individual for taking the time to send his otherwise lengthy message privately, I thought Id present my response also to the public at large, in hopes to shed some light on this subject matter. Following, therefore, is a FAQ on bubbles formulated in accordance with the points and concerns raised in the e-mail. I have, furthermore, notified this person that this Article represents my response and have invited him to come and read it in this forum.

So here we go.

Q.What is a real estate bubble?

An economic bubble is a particular market condition, wherein prices of commodities or assets increase to levels so high as to no longer reflect the utility of usage of the commodities or assets being exchanged. The main cause of an economic bubble is speculation. Speculation is one of the many forces that act on capital at any given time. In theoretical Economics, speculation is defined as the acquisition of financial or capital assets made solely to quickly profit from fluctuations in their prices, or of goods or commodities with no real intent to consume or otherwise use them for production.

Contrast this with investment, which is defined as the acquisition and use of financial or capital assets with a view to generate income, or of goods and commodities for the purposes of consumption or production.

Clearly, pursuant to the foregoing definitions, the real domains of speculators are the stocks, bonds, treasuries, futures and debentures markets, cumulatively referred to as the Stock Exchange. Many investors in the Stock Exchange actually speculate, since they bet on a quick gain dependent upon the volatility shifts of the market they operate into, and since they do not intend to consume the products they buy. A purchaser of one-hundred shares of IBM does not intend to actually go work for IBM, nor does he necessarily intend to start consuming outputs produced by IBM. He merely intends to buy IBM shares at a lower price and resell them with a mark-up.

Speculators do operate in the real estate markets, but to a far lesser extent, mainly because real estate typically moves in slow, very slow motion even when real estate markets are fast. The fluctuations in prices that occur in the Stock Exchange in a few hours typically take days, or even weeks, to happen in real estate. Additionally, fluctuations expressed as a percentage change of their nominal market value are far greater and substantial in the Stock Exchange than in real estate. For instance, it is not unusual for stocks to gain or lose 30-, 40- or 50-percent of their value in the round of a week, sometimes even in a single day, but no such dramatic variations exist in real estate. One never hears of a rancher abutting a golf course that on Monday morning is offered for sale for $500,000, and which by Friday afternoon has been reduced down to $250,000. Because of this, speculators tend to shy away from real estate markets.

The few speculators that do operate in real estate are those who engage in the flipping of real property assets. Many investors think of themselves as masters of flipping, but truth of the matter is that they do not flip at all. They resell for profit. True flipping, in real estate, consists in the purchase and selling of an interest in land without paying for it with ones own money. Thus, a speculator flips real estate buy putting in an offer to purchase an asset, and then flips the same asset (which the speculator does not own as of yet) to a second purchaser for a higher price, who will complete the transaction on the same day as the speculators original transaction. The speculator will then take the money from the second purchaser, retain his profit margin, and transfer the balance to the Seller. The speculator, in other words, will pay the Seller with the money of the second purchaser, not with his own money. This is a practice known in the United States and some Canadian Provinces as double escrow.

Needless to say, all those who purchase fixer-ups, refurbish, remodel and then resell them, and think of themselves as great speculators, are not speculators at all. They are also no masters of flipping. They are just merely ordinary investors, with a super ego.

Here is the classic comparative economic breakdown, by category, of market participants operating in both the Stock Exchange and Real Estate:

Stock Exchange ... Real Estate

Speculators

65% ................ 5%

Investors (short term)

25% ................ 35%

Investors (long term)

10% ................ 60%

I have seen some sources last year pegging the percentage of real estate speculators to double the one of the forgoing table, and am further aware of some economists and market analysts who cite a 15 percent figure. But even if, by hypothesis, speculators represented a 20 percent of real estate market participants, 4/5 of all participants would still be made up of regular short and long-term investors. Therefore, as the primary cause of economic bubbles (speculation) is almost entirely absent from real estate, or has otherwise minimal or reduced impact, it is ludicrous to speak of real estate bubbles.

Deflation is a decrease in the general pricing levels of assets or goods, which occurs when the equilibrium between supply and demand is altered, resulting in a higher or lower purchasing power of money within the market (in the present case, the purchasing power is higher since prices are coming down).

There are two, and only two variables capable of altering the equilibrium of supply and demand: 1) a tightening or expansion of the money stock which, in turn, alters the cost of borrowing, i.e. a shift in interest rates, or 2) an increase in inventory supplies. Alfred Marshall (1842 1924) was the first to attempt to explain price behaviour within the context of the equilibrium between supply and demand in competitive markets. Marshall discovered that consumers attempt to equate prices to their marginal utility, defined as the measure of happiness or satisfaction gained by consuming goods and services. Given this measure, one may speak meaningfully of increasing or decreasing utility, and thereby explain consumer behaviour in function of shifts in pricing.

The propensity to invest in real estate is partly dictated by the expectations of future profitability and by the present perception of market risk. The table above shows that a good 40 percent of real estate market participants is composed of speculators and short-term investors. These folks are in the market solely to increase their level of wealth, in the short and very short run. When the perception of market risk on the part of 40 percent of market participants increases sharply - which is exactly what has been happening these past few months - capital will exit more and more from the sphere of real estate and will find its way elsewhere (typically the stock market). There occurs, in other words, a shift in volatility risk.

Q. Bubble, deflation ... call it any which way you want, the result is all the same for me.

But not for me.

The difference consists in the repercussions and effects that bubble bursts and deflation have on market wealth, defined as the combination of materials, labour, land, services and technology in such a way as to capture a profit (Adam Smith). The aftershocks of a bubble that bursts are usually terminal and irreversible: market wealth disappears, it vanishes entirely. And it takes forever to re-build it, right from scratch. The greatest example in recent times is the infamous Black Monday October 19, 1987 when the Dow Jones collapsed 22.6 percent in value in a single day! It took nine years for Wall Street to lure investors back.

The burst was so powerful that even today, nineteen years after the fact, there are people out there still hurting. Lives were changed forever, companies were wiped out, families were ripped and broken apart and a few people committed suicide. And not only in the United States, but all over the world. Markets fell 41.8 percent in Australia, 22.5 percent in Canada, 45.8 percent in Hong Kong, and the 26.4 percent in the United Kingdom.

Now, thats a bubble burst!

With deflation, on the other hand, wealth can be recovered. It is still there, though it cannot be tapped.

Finally, a few words about the soundness of real estate as a wealth-generating vehicle, even during times of deflation. Homes have appreciated consistently to the tune of 7.5 percent per year over the past thirty years, notwithstanding the numerous ups and downs the industry has been going through. Unfortunately, 40 percent of Americans and 35 percent of Canadians are renters and that is too bad, since the fastest way to riches is buying real estate, as opposed to buying just about anything else, including stocks and bonds. The average Canadian renter has a net worth (assets minus liabilities) of CAD $6,000. The average Canadian homeowner has a net worth of CAD $225,000 (source: Canadian Real Estate Association). Figures in the States are comparatively similar.

One of the best wealth-generating source is mortgages. Even the so-deprecated ARMs are good, since they are used to buy homes and build up value. We do everything with our homes in addition, of course, to live and sleep inside them: we use them as collateral for personal lines of credit, we use them to increase our net worth, we use them to establish our hierarchy within society, we use them to improve our own self-esteem and, last but not least, we also use them as the parachute of last resort to save us from dire financial straits. Ownership of our homes is everything to us.

My concluding remark is that a slow-down in real estate has actually a positive influence on the economy by allowing salaries and wages to catch up and thus to regenerate the pool of buyers, especially first-time Buyers, entitled to take their first steps into the world of real estate. The ratio between wages and real estate market values is too skewed to values. Whereas market values in metropolitan areas have appreciated an average of fifteen percent per year for the past five years - or a total of seventy-five percent, salaries have increased an average four percent per annum or twenty percent total. There is, therefore, a fifty-five percent gap, which accounts for the problem buyers are facing today when it comes to go to the bank and qualifying for a loan.

Thank you for the e-mail.

Luigi Frascati

Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle at http://wwwrealestatechronicle.blogspot.com where you can find the full collection of his articles. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.

Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

When it comes to early retirement there are some financial strategies individuals may employ to help them retire sooner. Financial planning is important for individuals who want to retire sooner and enjoy their retirement while they are still young enough to get around on their own. Too many people work until they no longer have enough health to enjoy their golden days. Well, with a few financial tips people can plan for their senior years and be financially prepared.

Quite a few individuals choose to move to an active adult retirement community as they reach their 50s, 60s, and 70s, or beyond. More individuals want to retire to an active adult community as early as possible but they simply cant afford to stop working. Fortunately, once individuals realize how much money they will need to save for retirement they can begin saving and have a plan in place to help them realize their retirement dreams. Luckily for these folks the Internet can help them find the different methods to saving and preparing for retirement that will allow them to sit back and enjoy their golden years.

The most important thing when it comes to retirement is to start saving as early as possible. You will also want to begin investing and also ensuring that your retirement portfolio is as diversified as possible. Once you make certain savings goals you should then use the tools at your disposal to help you. These include IRAs, 401K plans, money market accounts, mutual funds, the stock market, annuities, and more. If your company offers a 401K employee contribution match program then you should definitely take advantage of this. This doubles the power of your money and is worthwhile.

You dont want to sit back and count on social security to take care of you in your golden years because that just might not happen. The social security administration is going to have some serious problems if major changes arent made soon meaning lots of retirement benefits you are owed may not get paid. Take your retirement savings into your own hands and start early and save as much as possible. By doing this you will know that no matter what happens to social security you will be taken care of and will have the lifestyle you have grown accustomed to. Dont put off saving for retirement for another day. Go and make your first deposit!

Caitlina Fuller is a freelance writer. Quite a few individuals choose to move to an active adult retirement community as they reach their 50s, 60s, and 70s, or beyond. More individuals want to retire to an active adult community as early as possible but they simply cant afford to stop working. Fortunately, once individuals realize how much money they will need to save for retirement they can begin saving and have a plan in place to help them realize their retirement dreams.

The forex market is by far the largest market in the world. It is estimated that around $1.5 TRILLION is traded every single day. By far more then all the stock, bond and futures markets of the entire world combined! Forex or currency exchange is the term used to describe the trading of world currencies. A trade occurs when a trader simultaneously buy of one currency and sell of another one. E.g., to buy British pounds with US dollars. The currency combination used in a trade is called a pair.

What does a forex trader do?

Simple, buy a currency at a low value and sell it at a higher value, and in the process profit from it! For example, buy Great British Pounds with US Dollars, wait for the Pound rate to go up and make money! This can be done several times a day if the forex trader is a day trader or several times a week or month if the trader is a forex swing trader.

What are the main benefits of trading in the forex market?

Many currency pairs are very volatile. Volatility means that they move a lot during the day, from side to side, allowing traders to capture sometimes 5-6 price swings per day, each one potentially allowing the trader to make impressive profits.

The forex market is a 24 hour market. Never stops. This means that as a forex trader you can chose exactly when to trade. Some traders have day jobs and do not have the necessary time to trade during the day so they can trade at night. People who make their living as forex traders can chose to trade any time of the day or night. The point being, a 24 hour market allows the trader a lot of flexibility.

What are the Exclusive benefits offered by forex trading?

An incredible benefit of the forex industry is that today all forex brokers allow traders to open free demo accounts. This demo account has the full capabilities of a "real" account including live market rates, access to real-time market analysis, and the ability to execute trades off streaming prices. This means that the trader can test his or her strategies without risking a single dollar! No other business opportunity allows you to see if it works before you spend money!

Making a living as a forex trader allows you to be truly free! No office, no workers, no inventory, no marketing worries, no advertising, no selling.

Learning the right forex trading system allows the forex trader to trade by just following simple rules. If A happens and B happens then do C. This is called mechanical trading. It requires absolutely no discretion, interpretation or thinking from the trader.

In conclusion, Learning forex trading provides all level of investors with a lot of opportunities that many markets and industries do not provide. The reason many people have not heard of this opportunity until recently is that until not long ago trading currencies was reserved to the big dogs (banks, institutions, companies etc). Today with the help of the internet anyone can take advantage of on-line currency trading that was once reserved to an exclusive group.

Lisssa Jannini has been involved in home based businesses for the past 5 years. She offers sound advice from her experience. And at http://www.breaktruesolutions.com she offers a way to do what she writes about.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

If you're like many investors who squander those small dividend checks from your stock portfolio, a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP) might be just what you need. Just as its name implies, a Dividend Reinvestment Plan allows you to reinvest some or all of those dividends into more stock of the issuing company. Unlike purchases made through traditional means, partial or fractional shares, as well as whole shares, are available.

Technically, there are two types of DRPs. The first type involves buying shares at the market through an outside trustee. Although the company may subsidize the transaction costs, buying shares at a discount is not allowed.

The second type allows you to purchase directly from the issuing company, which may provide a discount from the market price. This is a distinct advantage over buying from an outside trustee.

Besides giving dividends a better purpose than sitting in your pocket or in a brokerage cash account, a DRP may offer other advantages as well. By buying on a regular basis, you are dollar cost averaging your purchases, an investment strategy designed to reduce volatility. Dollar cost averaging involves continuous investment in securities regardless of fluctuation in the price. Of course you should consider your ability to continue purchasing through periods of low price levels. This type of plan does not ensure a profit or protect against loss.

Secondly, many companies offer added options with their DRPs, including purchasing stock at low minimums and sometimes even offering shares at a discount (often 3-5%) off current market prices.

From a tax standpoint, you are subject to income taxes on the value of the dividends whether you reinvest them or not. Your tax basis for all your shares including the reinvested dividends is the amount paid for the original shares plus the dividends, minus any costs deducted from your dividends as a service charge as part of the DRP.

Keeping good records is a necessity, especially if you plan to continue participating in a DRP over a number of years. Without the records, it may become very difficult to track all your purchases. A little bit of effort now can save you big headaches later on.

Usually, you will receive a quarterly statement outlining your DRP account. Among other things, these quarterly statements will detail your on-going investments, how many shares are held by the program, how many shares are held be you, and the value of all your shares.

Not all companies offer DRP's but, for a list of one's that do, there are many web sites dedicated to these plans. These internet sites not only have a full list of companies with DRPs, they also offers online enrollment services. For securities held in a brokerage or wrap account, check with your brokerage firm to determine if they have the means to enroll you. If all else fails, try either the company itself or its transfer agent.

Although it is easy to see the advantages of DRP programs to the investor, we should not overlook the benefits to the issuing company. Besides helping to stabilize market prices, a DRP is a relatively efficient way to raise capital and, because companies only promise to continue these programs in the future, the issuing company controls when and how much capital will be raised.

Over 1,000 companies currently offer some type of Dividend Reinvestment Plan and, with a little research, you should be able to get on the path of automatic pilot investing for the future.

Glenn (Chip) Dahlke, a senior contributor to the Living Trust Network, has 28 years in the investment business. He is a Registered Representative of Linsco/Private Ledger and a principal with Dahlke Financial Group. He is licensed to transact securities with persons who are residents of the following states: CA. CT, FL, GA, IL. MA, MD. ME, MI. NC, NH, NJ, NY.OR, PA, RI, VA, VT, WY.

PREMISE: Trading Foreign Exchange carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. There is a possibility that you could sustain a loss of all of your investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose. You should be aware of all the risks associated with Foreign Exchange trading.

The cash/spot FOREX markets possess certain unique attributes that offer an unmatched potential for profitable trading in any market condition or any stage of the business cycle. It leaves one to wonder why bother?

The answer to that is very simple. It boasts:

A 24-hour market: A trader has the chance to take advantage of all of the profitable market conditions at any time which means that there is no waiting for the 'opening bell' like the exchange.

Highest liquidity: The FOREX market is the most liquid market in the world. That means that a trader can enter or exit the market whenever they want during almost any market condition minimal execution barriers or risk and no daily trading limit.

High leverage: A leverage ratio of up to 400 is normal when compared to a leverage ratio of 2 (50% margin requirement) in the equity markets. Of course, this makes trading in the cash/spot forex market awkward as well because it makes the risk of the down side loss much higher in the same way that it makes the profit potential on the upside much prettier.

Low transaction cost: The retail transaction cost (the bid/ask spread) is actually less than 0.1% (10 pips) under the normal market conditions. At larger dealers, the spread could be less than 5 pips, and may expand a great deal in fast moving markets.

Always a bull market: A trade in the FOREX market means selling or buying one currency against another. In essence, a bull market or a bear market for a currency is defined in terms of the outlook for value against other currencies. If the outlook is positive, you get a bull market where a trader profits by buying the currency against other currencies. However, if the outlook is negative, we have a bull market for other currencies and a trader profits being forced to selling the currency against other currencies.

In either case, there is always a bull market trading opportunity for a trader.

Inter-bank market: The foundation of the FOREX market consists of a global network of dealers that communicate and trade with their clients through electronic networks and telephones. There are no organized exchanges like in futures that are there to serve as a central location to facilitate transactions the way the New York Stock Exchange serves the equity markets.

The FOREX market actually works a lot like the NASDAQ market in the United States operates, and because of this, it is also referred to as an over the counter or OTC market.

No one can corner the market: The FOREX market is so large and has so many participants that no single trader, even a central bank, can control the market price for an extended period of time. Even the interventions conducted by mighty central banks are getting to be increasingly ineffectual and short-lived. This means that central banks are becoming less and less inclined to intervene to manipulate market prices.

It is Unregulated: The FOREX market is seen as an unregulated market although the operations of major dealers like commercial banks in money centers are regulated under the banking laws.

The daily operations of retail FOREX brokerages are not regulated under any laws or regulations that are specific to the FOREX market, and in fact, many of these types of establishments in the United States do not even report to the Internal Revenue Service.

The foreign exchange market, or forex, has been very well known as the domain of government central banks and commercial and investment banks. The term Forex is taken from the words 'Foreign' and 'Exchange' and basically means to take part in trades involving the exchange of one countries money with another country. Even if you have not heard of forex trading before the chances are you have already done it in one form or another without actually realizing it. If you have ever traveled to a foreign country before and had to exchange monies at your local bank then you have already taken part in Forex. Granted this is far less exciting and profitable, however, the point is you were participating in the Forex.

The Foreign Exchange Market is a great trading market for new investors. The details of the currency trade are pretty straight forward and easily accessible to the average individual. Typically you will find that it requires a low initial investment to get started. New investors can start out small and work their way up to larger trades as they feel more comfortable. Now, more than ever, individuals are seizing the forex market as you can trade 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Today it is the largest and most liquid market in the entire world! Daily dollar volumes of monies traded in the currency market exceeds $1.9 trillion.

Since profit can be made from both increases and decreases in a currency it means the Forex market is highly appealing and can be very lucrative for anyone willing to give it a try. Forex is traded with a leverage, in other words, if you trade with $100 you do not get $100 of currency, in fact, you will get many times more than this perhaps as much as $40,000! This means that you can earn a percentage of that $40,000 if the currency shifts in your preferred direction, either up or down. This is quite valuable because in Forex currency trading fluctuations are oftentimes just fractions of a cent.

You can select your pair of currencies and your amount whether the market is moving up or moving down - and still make a profit. You can decide to buy Euro and sell dollar or buy dollar and sell Euro. Additionally, it is not necessary that physically have the currency in hand that you choose to buy and sell. The quickest and by far easiest way to get started is to find a Forex market site, open an account, deposit your money, and then just start trading. Most reputable companies will provide you with training, support, and advice to help you get started.

Forex trading has been around for a long time but is still misunderstood by a lot of people. Those that do know what Forex trading is have come to love the excitement that trading can bring. Many of these individuals go on to devote their whole lives to the art of trading. In order to make a profit on the Forex market investors only need to know one rule - buy cheap and sell high. The profit part comes in as you experience the fluctuations within the exchange market for currency you are trading.

Forex trading is all about exchanging currencies and taking advantage of the fluctuations in exchange rates. Contrary to popular belief, it is very easy to learn and begin making profits. Most importantly, please understand that before you go rushing to deposit money and start trading make sure you fully understand the market.